10,000 Ft. View

Here is the first paragraph of the newsletter I was on point to deliver to your inbox today but didn’t, “What would your equity curve look like if you could redo every losing trade that was a result of Deviating from your plan, Carelessness, or Mind chatter that took you out of the zone?”

I decided this was going to end up like the film on the floor after a director cuts the parts of a movie he thinks doesn’t work to further the plot.

But even before this train of thought derailed and ended up on the floor, my original plan was to relate how trading is like climbing a mountain. I climbed Mt. St. Helen’s last Sunday. Since we were on the mountain for 11 hours I had a lot of time to chat with my climbing buddies, Chris and Chuck.

As we’re trudging through the snow, almost to where we would start our ascent yet still had enough breath to talk, Chris asked me what a typical QiT weekly newsletter would encompass.

Needless to say, I dove into that pool with all fins flapping and declared quite plainly, my weekly chats somehow always trail back to “Trading Psychology.” How 80-90% of trading is all between the ears with a slight admixture of algo logic.

I had a heal-of-hand-to-forehead moment when she said, “Why don’t you write an article on how trading is like climbing?” A piece on how climbing, putting one foot in front of the other, was like trading. How one trade at a time would eventually get you to your destination whether it be a trading account that can sustain your lifestyle or the top of a mountain.

How climbing a mountain, or any challenging physical activity, is as much a psychological test of endurance as it is in trading, if not more.

I scraped both newsletters.

I scraped both newsletters.

I needed to start over

I decided to start over because of the declaration I alluded to earlier, “My weekly chats somehow always trail back to ‘Trading psychology.’” I’m going to go out on the proverbial limb here and say you are probably getting awful darn tired of me lecturing about the psychology of trading – even though it is 80-90% of our trading blocks. (I just can’t stop can I?)

It was here I had a light bulb moment, you know the one where the light bulb comes on in the bubble over your head?

Since my readership has increased substantially over the last year, I reasoned a 10,000 ft. view of QiT’s nightly process was probably well overdue. There is a great deal going on behind the scenes you should know about.

Even if not a member, the fact that you are reading this newsletter shows you are interested in algo trading.

This means you’re going to have to wait for my sermon on taking responsibility for your trades for another time.

Did I just hear a collective “sigh?”

First Stage

Two hours after the market closes, the first stage of my nightly batch process fires off and checks the status of the data QiT downloads from our data provider Norgate Premium Data. There are several editions of the data each day that bring different groups of markets up to date and we have to ensure we’re scanning the correct edition.

This is a very important step.

When trades are late to the party, 90% of the time, this is the reason – waiting for the correct version of the data. The batch process will continue to check and doesn’t kick off the second phase until it is handed the baton from stage 1.

Second Stage

The second segment invokes the algorithm software, Amibroker, and one by one each of the nine algorithms scans the stock market for setups. The last piece of code in each algorithm spits out the trades for the next day. This phase takes about 2 hours.

Third Stage

Now that we have all the trades, the third stage kicks off. Here we do a “continuity check” confirming the trades match yesterday’s trades. This part of the nightly process seems simple and rather uncomplicated but it has caused me more angst than any other segment.

I have a matrix of all the different combinations and permutations that have to be accommodated. It may have taken us months to get this stage working but nightly it only takes seconds.

Fourth Stage

The fourth and final stage is uploading all the trades to each membership site. This takes about 5 minutes.

If everything runs according to Hoyle, the stars are aligned just right and we all stand on our heads singing, “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” trades for tomorrow should be posted within 4 hours of market close.

This all takes place on an Amazon Virtual Server. Meaning, I can check the process, and address issues that bubble up, from anywhere in the world.

Pilot to passengers, “We will now start our descent from 10,000 feet to make a landing. Hopefully, you have enjoyed your flight.”

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Great article! As I was reading it, I felt the crosshairs right on my forehead, having committed most of the sins you describe! I have long been a student of Larry Conners, his methods and research, I definitely believe in the system, but have often let my “trader” persona take ...

Today has been an awesome day across the board for me. I am at a new equity high on L2-RP, no losses on L3 ETF (to be honest only a handful of trades so far) and close to break even on L3 Ultra. I started trading the ultra signals ...

What a great short signal on VRX (Ultra). Entered at 38 dollar. 11% profit so far

My background with Connors and Amibroker gave me greater appreciation for all the work you have put into getting the trading results that attracted me to QiT. I thank you for your efforts and look forward to continuing.

Jason B

Thank you so much for Quantitrader and here is to many years of success. I have never been happier with any of the other services/systems I have tested over the years.

Jane, just made all-time equity highs in my IRA thanks to Quantitrader, way to go!

Mary

Trader Janie, I want to tell you how much that I am coming to admire you Your willingness to listen to our concerns and your new and repeated explanations to our concerns as well as your attempts at tweaking what you have already spent so much of your life ...

Jeff

Thanks for the awesome service. You really have something special here.

Thanks for the new ETF Portfolio. I find it meets my trading style, and I can go short inside my IRA.

Bob

I simply wanted to thank you for adding the Conservative play into QiT. I also appreciate adding the layer of clarity by identifying what each level means on the Signal sheet. Keep up the great work to continue improving QiT.

Subscribing to QiT allows me to save money and time by not having to pay for a datafeed, a trading platform, etc, and not spend hours running the stock screens, managing the datafeed, managing the trade signals, etc. Instead, all I do with QiT is check the signals each evening ...

I know that drawdowns are inevitable. In the past, this made me lose money by hopping from system A to system B to system C etc. Losing and losing and losing. Always leaving right before the winning periods got in :-) That is why I like Quantitrader. I will stay ...

Keith

Hi Jane,I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate the trade detail you post on the website. I like seeing the trade history of the past 30 days showing the entry and exit price. I compare this to my exit price just to make sure we are tracking ...

I joined this service because I love the process of Quant trading, removes all of the emotions. Many days I when I was traveling, I couldn't even tell you where the markets closed, but just entered my signals per the system and watched my account grow.

Ted

Trader Janie, your system looks terrific and thanks for posting all the histories in so much detail - most systems don't do that.

Shari

I, for one, sincerely appreciate all your efforts and the QiT system itself, and I'm looking forward to really seeing how it will work for me.

Marge

It took me only 5 minutes to put my trades onto IB tonight Thanks Jane- so easy and quick. You have lots of TIME putting on the trades. There is no stress and no decisions you have to make!! Easy Peesy!!

Let me share with you two different perpectives of the QT system of algo trading.In 1978, I joined a large Wall Street firm as a retail broker. In the following 13 years as a broker and as a Principal, I saw several things that kept most brokerage clients from making ...

Your services pay for themselves. I have belonged to many trading services and trading rooms and I find you and your services to be the most honorable and compassionate to the little guy.Keep up the good work,